The invention relates generally to toy construction sets and more particularly to such construction sets in which the principal building components are comprised of a series of rods and connectors for joining with the rods. A highly popular form of such construction toy sets is marketed under the trademark “K'NEX”, by K'NEX Industries, Inc. Certain features of the K'NEX construction toy sets are reflected in earlier U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,061,219, 5,137,486, 5,199,919 and 5,350,331. The K'NEX construction toy sets, although first introduced relatively a few years ago, have become highly popular and commercially very successful. However, notwithstanding the many advantages and many attractive features of the K'NEX construction toys as presently marketed, a certain level of manual dexterity and finger strength is needed in order to take full advantage of the many features offered. This tends to limit the marketability of the existing construction toy sets to children who have developed a reasonable level of manual dexterity